Do you have similar musical tastes to your friends? How about your work colleagues? Do you think musical tastes tell us anything else about a person? This study thinks it might when it compared musical taste with political leaning. The big five personality domains they are referring to are: Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious) […]

To get control of our inhibitory control, preschoolers might first need to get a hold of the beat! This study looked at the different impacts of a rhythm based music program and a melody based music program on different aspects of the executive function of preschoolers. Anyone who has spent time with a preschooler would […]

What would the following behaviours look like in a preschooler? 1 – Inhibitory control: the aspect of inhibitory control that involves resisting temptations and not acting impulsively or prematurely – we would suggest wanting to snatch a toy from another child or jumping on to ask a question before the teacher finished delivering the instructions. […]

What is musical play? Is it bashing on an upturned drum in the playground or banging pots and pans on the kitchen floor? Well, it can be both. A different term to use might be musical exploration, the idea that young children get the opportunity to explore sounds. Most playground designs or outdoor spaces take […]

This is not new, but recent research helps us understand why it works. The abstract says “The primary musical features of infant-directed singing are ideal for emotional coordination and sharing between parent and infant without the risk of over-stimulation.” Check out our posters designed to get your students talking about the benefits of music! What […]

Music and speech – two peas in a baby’s brain pod 🧠🎶👶🏼 In this study they found that 9 month old babies who had one month of exposure to directed music listening improved not only their auditory processing of music but also their language. So little time, so much benefit! 🧠🎶🗣 The questions is why […]

What is the connection between rhythm and reading?👏📖 They use overlapping neural mechanisms and this brand new study with beginner readers (aged 5-7) found a whole swag of connections, concluding that “rhythm skills and literacy call on overlapping neural mechanisms, supporting the idea that rhythm training may boost literacy in part by engaging sensory‐motor systems”. […]

10 minutes of music learning a week for 10 weeks can improve reading skills for poor readers. This amazing study is by the great Prof Susan Hallam and she tested a music intervention to assist poor readers. After a rhythmic intervention involving clapping, stamping, and chanting to music while following notation on a chart, the […]

Music learning in early childhood increases pre-reading skills and vocabulary 🧠🎶📖 The results of this study of 90 3-6 years olds found that early childhood music training can lead to associated improvements in both musical skills and language skills, thus strengthening the evidence for a developmental link between these two abilities. The study also found […]

“Research suggests music helps parents bond with babies who have had a harrowing start to life, and may benefit the babies’ health and brain development.” This research is incredibly valuable to help us understand why and how singing is important in the first weeks and months of life, whether it be a smooth or harrowing […]

This study explored if humans and monkeys process music, specifically pitch processing, the same way. Why would they want to research this? The reason is music, as we know it, is a unique creation by humans. Does that mean that the human brain has different functions and structures that are specific to music? And if […]

Music has been used as an intervention around the world to help students, and inevitably whole communities, who are living in challenging circumstances. These circumstances have a profound effect on children’s brain development and their education, and music programs have had seemingly miraculous impacts on both the social and educational issues associated with disadvantage. This […]